Dark Eclipse – The Review

What if you found out your world as you know it, peaceful and everyone was happy was about to come to an end as told by a stranger, would you believe it or carry on your way? But what if what that stranger said on that day was actually true? What if you did not prepare for what was coming? Those are some good questions that at any time could possibly happen. But does Developer Sunsoft allow you to see what would happen and prepare for the darkness? Let’s find out with Dark Eclipse for the PlayStation VR.

So before we dive into what Dark Eclipse is, we must learn about the past. You see we are part of the realm of Oldus which for the most part is calm, cool, and everyone is happy. We knew nothing of war, sure we may have our own inner debates, but we all worked it out and the respect was high. But then one day this stranger just appeared. Very mysterious, but stated that “someday” this evil darkness would come over our own Oldus and change it and us in ways we have not seen. But this stranger did try to help by searching for fighters…champions if you will that will help protect us.

This stranger found these warriors and gave them this cube with great power for the war that was coming. But then days…weeks…much time passed and many had forgotten the stranger and what was told that would be coming. But it started to happen. Oldus was changing. The islands around us being brought down by the seas as it was there the last sight of day. Clear skies turned dark, the rain seemed to become lightning pounding the land. The mountains where we would go began to become angry with fires of rage. But the cube that was bestowed upon those warriors, those champions were passed from generation to generation. What was meant the purpose of hope and protection, part of it became greed and despair.

Dark Eclipse is a VR MOBA (Virtual Reality Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) game. Actually the first ever for PlayStation VR which I am all about bringing firsts to PlayStation VR and I can say that if you really enjoy the real-time strategy aspect and enjoying having to think ahead, you just may have found what you have been looking for. And if you like options for controls, then you have the option to use either both Move controllers or the Dual Shock 4 controller. For me, I went with the Move controllers as it gives you more of that freedom in your hands.

I am going to strongly suggest you begin with the tutorial as this is not your typical MOBA. Here in Dark Eclipse, we want you to use your mind and think not about just one hero, not two, but three. Yes, three heroes to think about, three heroes to control, and three heroes that you will need to know when they will need healing (Yes, I had to give three different examples). But I will say that before you even start, just listen to the music as it’s very calming yet somehow was preparing me for the battle. Speaking of the tutorial, it can seem like a long one and will not tell you everything (which I appreciate), but you will be doing a lot, so just enjoy the easy time here.

Being as you now have to think about your three heroes that are called Leaders. But there is a difference when making your selection. Do you want more of a long-range attack (represented by a blue bow) or more of a melee Leader (represented by a red bow)? The object is simple as you must collect resources from trees so you can build towers and defeat the enemies base tower. So selecting the right balance of long-range attack and melee Leaders as well as collecting resources is important and going to have an impact.

You will be able to level up your hero which is what you want to be able to do when you have the battle to fight. The more you level up your Leader, the more in-game currency you will earn. But you are able to purchase additional currency with real money if you choose to, but that will be up to you. The more you play, the more experience you will earn. With the in-game currency, you are able to unlock different soldiers as well as different skins for your Leaders. But what I like is how even the battlefield is for everyone. So you don’t have to worry about that so much which is a good thing.

Let’s talk about some of the Leaders (Heroes & Dominators) for a moment.

Sakura

Sakura primary skill is the Blossom Blade. Sakura warps instantly to a targeted location, where she performs a spinning blade attack which allows her to a lot of damage to all enemies with the area of effect. But if she can defeat the enemy leaders, it will help reduce the time needed for her skill to become active.

Asuka

Asuka’s primary sill is lightning speed. Asuka is able to create this wind field that can be selected for the targeted area. A good thing about Asuka, any allies in the vicinity will get a boost to attack and movement speed. Keep in mind that if any enemy Leaders that are in the vicinity, Asuka will receive a boost of movement speed if the enemy Leader uses their Active Skill.

Kensoon

Kensoon’s primary skill is the Hamstringer which can damage the enemies nearby as well as reduce their movement speed. A good thing about Kensoon is he can earn resources by defeating larger enemies.

Raina

Raina might be a good choice if you like to slice and dice. But if you can time and land your attack, then your attack speed and power will receive a boost. But with all this power, I just wished it lasted longer because slicing and dicing feel really good. Plus when you add in the Last Stand as a skill, your defensive boost that you receive for each additional enemy Leader in the vicinity.

Wuntasto

If you like for your skill to be lasers, you may want to select Wuntasto. Once fired at the location you are targeting, all enemies in that area will receive damage. But when Wuntasto uses Lead Seal, when you defeat an enemy any nearby enemy Leaders in the vicinity are slowed down for a bit.

Ejin

I don’t know what it is about Ejin, but this may be one of my favorites. With the Active Skill of Curse is used, all enemies within the vicinity speeds will be reduced and after your “Curse”, the enemies damage will be determined up how long they were in the area. But when one has a curse one must be able to drain souls wouldn’t you say? After Ejin uses Soul Drain, will absorb their soul and gain boost for attack power of each soul consumed. But if another enemy is not defeated within that short time, the attack bonus will fade away classify itself as obsolete.

Zolf

Zolf as you can see strikes fear. Using Jumping Claw, Zolf will pounce dealing with any enemy in the vicinity. But if an enemy happens to get a hit in, Zolf for a brief moment can resist.

As you are able to play, your Leaders are able to recruit some soldiers to assist their Leaders in their battle. Level 1 is your basic soldier that can have their defense increased for a moment with Forbearance.

But once you are able to upgrade you have some choices.

The Knight can use Ultraviolence that can cause increased damage.

The Sword Master can use Penetration to increase damage as well.

The Armored Knight has Impenetrability that will help reduce any damage for the group from those long range attacks.

The Berserker can use Diffuseness to launch an attack on enemies that are near as well as help reduce any damage from those ranged attacks.

The Guardian uses Selflessness by sacrificing themselves when their Leader’s health reaches zero and bring them back from death.

But what about the Long Range specialists soldiers? Check them out…

The Attacker can use Relentlessness to have their attack speed increased. This comes in very handy.

The Flame Wizard uses Incandescence that will cause additional damage for a moment.

The High Priest uses Restorativity to help heal.

The Machine Gunner uses Sluggishness to help reduce the enemies speeds.

The Necromancer uses Providence to cast to heal allies in the targeted area, which also comes in handy.

So as you can see each Leader and Dominator, as well as soldiers, has their own strengths, so plan accordingly. As I mentioned the goal is to defeat the enemies base tower. Once a base tower is destroyed, it’s game over so you might as well get familiar with the towers and how they can actually be used for victory.

Your base tower. Know it…protect it at all costs.

Do your Leaders need a little boost. Then you may want to get the resources to build the Fast Tower.

When fog also becomes an enemy, you may want to get to the Vision Tower.

Need extra help to slow down the enemies, then get to the Hindrance Tower.

When your Leaders are about to die and just need some health, then make sure you are near the Revival Tower.

When an Eater has been defeated, why not convert them to join your side and fight the greater good? This is why you may want the Taming Tower.

So as you can see, resources to play an important role. So while you are defending and attacking, make sure you get your resources in as well.

Sound wise there is nothing that is going to be too over the top and it doesn’t need to be. When playing Dark Eclipse you will want to focus more on the action than the sound. But some of the voice overs as simple as they are did put a smile on my face as I started to laugh from the inside that just came out.

Graphics are good, but like the sound will not be over the top and just like the sound, it doesn’t need to be. I am too busy focusing on the action that I was able to make out clearly what was going on and that is important when playing PlayStationVR’s first MOBA.

If anything the tutorial may be a little on the long side for some. Not a bad thing, but I am sure like most, we all want to jump into the action. But it’s when that action overtakes us, that we can appreciate a tutorial such as this. Let’s talk about the online. At the time I was playing I could not find anyone as much as I wanted to play against. And I know the base will continue to grow. Also, keep in mind that the Developer is planning on adding 2 v 2 and 3 v 3 online player action. So right now get used to the 1 v 1 and get that practice in as it will only help you later on when more chaos hits and that will be a very good thing.

Dark Eclipse may not be something you thought was asked for, but when you play it in VR and start to get into how everything moves plays out, it starts to become the real-time strategy game we may all want to start playing. It allows us to enter a world on a different scale in a classic battle of good vs evil. And just like in life we will try and fail at our attempts, but with practice and determination, we can all become victorious.

Dark Eclipse is out now and it’s FREE. If you want to purchase the Leader Set, you can purchase that here and if you want to purchase all the Appearance Set, you can purchase that here. review copy was provided. To learn more about Dark Eclipse please visit the site. To learn more about Sunsoft, make sure you visit their site and make sure you follow them on Twitter.

In case you missed the trailer, please enjoy. Until next time, I am going go and practice so I can be ready for some online play.